A large number of portable electronic devices include radio circuitry in order to receive information from external sources. Many devices include transmitters as well, which are paired with a receiver to form a transceiver, to communicate using a particular radio protocol. A necessary component for radio reception and communication is an antenna, which, at one time, was an obvious part of a device that included a radio circuit since the antenna was an external component. Presently, however, the preference is that the antenna is not seen, and is thus an internal element of the device.
The use of internal or hidden antennas is somewhat at odds with other preferences in the design of portable electronic devices, such as reducing size. This is further complicated in more sophisticated devices such as mobile phone devices (e.g. “smartphones”) since they can include several different radio circuits for different communication protocols. For example, a typical mobile phone device present sold will include a cellular transceiver for communicating with a cellular network, a wireless local area network (WLAN—sometimes referred to as “WiFi”), a personal area network (PAN), a satellite positioning system, and near field communication. As a result, present day devices can include several antennas. Given that the preference for the styling of portable electronic devices is to locate antennas internally, locating multiple antennas inside a device creates a challenge.
Accordingly, there is a need for an antenna arrangement that utilizes the available space inside a device while minimizing the need to increase the size of the device.
Those skilled in the field of the present disclosure will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. The details of well-known elements, structure, or processes that would be necessary to practice the embodiments, and that would be well known to those of skill in the art, are not necessarily shown and should be assumed to be present unless otherwise indicated.